More than 3,000 miners strike again at Lonmin’s Marikana

MORE than 3,000 striking South African miners launched a fresh attack on London-listed Lonmin’s Marikana mine yesterday, as peace talks between the company’s management, unions and the government continued.

It marked the largest protest at Marikana since 44 mine workers were killed during recent clashes with police.

The majority of the arrested miners were freed from murder charges yesterday, after they were arrested last month following the altercations.

Police officers were deployed to the fresh strike at Marikana, armed with tear gas and assault rifles, although the protestors retreated after two hours.

It is thought the miners wanted a hike in salary to 12,500 ZAR (£934) a month, more than double their current salary.

Lonmin said that 4.2 per cent of workers reported for work yesterday across all mine shafts.

Lonmin has seen its share price plummet over the past month, as production was halted for the fourth week.